September

 
11

Berattande
Lawrence Jung
This project will explore how to tell a dynamic narrative through the player’s
interaction with the digital environment utilizing conventional and
unconventional means.

University of Southern California | MFA Thesis Proposal

 Lawrence Jung | Thesis Proposal

Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 3
Narrative and Themes................................................................................................... 3
Gameplay ...................................................................................................................... 4
Format ............................................................................................................................ 5
Goals and Relevance ................................................................................................... 5
Understanding Effective Storytelling Through Environments .............................................. 6
Giving Player a Memorable and Emotional Experience ................................................... 6
Creating a Dynamic Female Protagonist ............................................................................ 6
Have the Player Create an Emotional Bond with the Protagonist ..................................... 6
Personal Work Completed To Date ............................................................................. 7
CTIN 534 – Navigable Space ................................................................................................ 7
CTIN 532 – Prototype 2 ........................................................................................................... 7
CTIN 532 – Prototype 3 ........................................................................................................... 8
Prior Works Review ........................................................................................................ 8
Dear Esther .............................................................................................................................. 8
Gone Home ............................................................................................................................ 9
Kentucky Route Zero ........................................................................................................... 10
Contribution to the Field ............................................................................................. 11
Reception and Distribution ......................................................................................... 12
Project Timeline ........................................................................................................... 13
Fall Semester ........................................................................................................................ 13
Spring Semester ................................................................................................................... 13
Estimated Budget ........................................................................................................ 14
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 14

2
Abstract
Berattande is a single player interactive narrative exploration game in
which the player explores an abandoned lighthouse to uncover its secrets. From
exploring this abandoned lighthouse, the player learns about the protagonist’s
past and her connection to the lighthouse.

Narrative and Themes

123
Berattande is a story of Liliana Saskia, a young teenage girl who is about
to graduate high school. She runs away from home and becomes stranded on
Dulca Island. Her grandfather has taken her to this island every year since she
was child. It was a special place for him but for Liliana, it was place to escape
all the troubles of the “real world.” No one else lives on this island. It is just Liliana
and a run down lighthouse.
Berattande plays on my experience when I traveled the world when I was
child. Growing up my mother has encouraged my sister and me to travel the
world, to experience different cultures and to take in the local environment. I
remember traveling to Rome, Italy and being fascinated by all the historic
buildings, like churches, museums, ruins and parks. Each of these locations been
around for centuries and embedded are the stories they lived through, like war,
famine, celebrations, elections and more.
When visiting these locations there was always a feeling of wonderment
and curiosity that I felt. I want the player to share the same feelings as I had with
Berettande. It can be easy to forget that all objects and places had an original
state. The new Gameboy that I got for Christmas was special as it was my first
handheld gaming console. Over time from playing many games on it, I develop
memories of my experiences. Some of these are embedded in the Gameboy
itself, like the starched screen, dirty between the buttons, pair of old batteries
and any dents on the device itself. There is a story on how all of those pieces got

1 http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/004/e/e/low_poly_lighthouse_on_rocks__by_pyxartz-d70tmdo.jpg
2 http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/07-Nov-2007/106032-old-man.jpg
3 http://www.zerochan.net/1407903#full

3
 Lawrence Jung | Thesis Proposal

into this state. It is the physical manifestation of use that I want to explore in
telling a story.

Gameplay
The Discovery Phase of the experience will be exploration. During this time
the players will learn how to control the character and exploring their immediate
environment. During this time, Liliana has landed on the Island and a storm is
brewing. The player needs to find shelter to protect themselves from the
elements. The only place that offers protection is the lighthouse. Once the
player enters the lighthouse, a new phase of the experience begins.
The Recording Phase, Liliana will discover a notebook that the player can
use to write their notes and observations in. The notebook helps the player to
organize and record their thoughts. Because they will be encountering various
environments and objects, it can be difficult to recall certain information or
experiences. Images and materials can be embedded in this book that the user
can use elsewhere. The notebook can be used more than for recording
observations. It can be used to record the player’s thoughts, feelings and
experiences that add another dimension throughout their adventure. This leads
to a final phase for the player.
During the Insight phase the player learns about their surroundings through
the interaction and discoveries with the environment and the objects within. This
insight ability gives the player more information about their interaction. The first
encounter with an area or object is just the beginning. Learning about the
environment and object will add layers of complexity to it. As Liliana begins to
understand the environment or object better, layers will be applied to the scene
to “transform” the object to better represent the player’s understanding.
These three phases, Discovery, Recording and Insight, are the foundation
of the player’s experience of Berattande. This is the interaction language that I
hope to utilize in expressing and presenting a different way of telling narratives
through the use of the many interactions the players has with the environment.

4
Format
Berattande is designed to be a 20 to 30 minute experience depending on
the user’s pacing through the environment. This interactive experience is being
developed in Unity with the use of a gamepad device like an Xbox 360
controller. The visual style of Berattande will be simple, minimalist and a little
abstract, giving the player some room to embed him or herself in the character
and allow their imagination to fill some of the environmental detail gaps.
However the environment will be more representational than the protagonist
character model.
Some of the artists that I am looking as references include Olly Moss, Ken
Wong, Edison Yan, Edward Hopper and Taiyo Matsumoto. These artists use color
effectively to express the mood of the environment and utilize silhouettes
effectively. Edison Yan and Taiyo Matsumoto use simple character designs living
in dynamic environments. The amount of detail and care placed on the
environment makes them characters themselves. Environments in Berattande
are more than just place you visit but have a personality that reacts to the
player’s actions.

Goals and Relevance

Berattande is trying to target how people feel when experiencing
something new for the first time, like traveling to an unfamiliar location. I hope

5
 Lawrence Jung | Thesis Proposal

Berattande leaves a memorable experience that is personal for the player. It is

an experience they can take outside and share with their close friends. The
game is also trying to tell a compelling narrative with a memorable and strong
female protagonist. At the end of the experience the player will develop an
emotional bond with the protagonist.

Understanding Effective Storytelling Through Environments

The core goal of this Thesis project is to discover various ways of expressing
narrative with the use of the environment. It is exploring player-to-world
interaction rather than player-to-player interaction. I am interested in expressing
how I felt when traveling and exploring new locations to players with this game.
Through the development of Berattande I hope to develop a vocabulary in
developing effective environmental storytelling and take it with me on future
projects.

Giving Player a Memorable and Emotional Experience

Through the player’s exploration of Dulca Island, I hope to transport them
to a place that they can remember after leaving it. I no longer visit my
elementary school but I still remember the wonderful times I had in the school
playground with my classmates playing tag. Another memorable moment is
visiting the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. The tall vast ceiling and the ornate
detail on the walls and floors made it very special place. There are many nooks
and crannies within the lighthouse and underground that the player can visit
and experience that I hope they will remember after the experience. Dulca
Island is not just a place but also a character that will react to the player’s
actions.

Creating a Dynamic Female Protagonist

Video Games have come a long way since I started playing on my
cousin’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994, however the games
currently on the market do not represent the diversity of gamers. A majority of
games still star a Caucasian male. In contributing a game to this field I hope to
expand it to encompass more diversity. People of all races and genders play
games and I hope to be able to create an experience they can appreciate
and this includes creating a female protagonist who is more than a wallflower.

Have the Player Create an Emotional Bond with the Protagonist

I am designing Liliana to be someone that players can relate to. She is a
rebellious teenager who is at a stage where she is developing her own beliefs
and voice. The world to her is still a little innocent and her thought process is still
developing. Players will be entering this experience fresh and will be growing
and developing along with Liliana during this journey. I hope that during this
journey the player will create a bond with her and continue to remember once
the experience has been finished.

6
Personal Work Completed To Date
CTIN 534 – Navigable Space

The Navigable Space assignment in CTIN 534 was one of my first attempts
at telling a narrative through environmental elements. I wanted to create a
world that the user wanted to explore and learn more about. The player started
off on a snowy mountaintop with trees obscuring their view, however when they
got to the entrance of the windy path there is an opening that directs their view
to the bottom of the mountain. The entire world is shrouded in darkness so I took
advantage of using lights and lampposts as a way to let the player know where
the points of interests were on the map.
Some areas I created were a small farming town, a church hidden in a
forest, a blacksmith’s town within a mountain range, a religious pyramid in an
arid desert and a festive village on a grassy plateau. This information was shown
through props like axes, equipment and decoration and the architectural style
of the buildings. I hope to take some of my experimentation with this assignment
into my thesis.

CTIN 532 – Prototype 2

Prototype 2 for CTIN 532 explored how to create an interactive

experience using “sound” as the core component of the experience. The player
starts in an abandoned apartment. Since the experience is all about sound, I
focus on using simple primitives to represent different furniture and objects in the
apartment with a gray shade. Objects light up red when the player is facing an

7
 Lawrence Jung | Thesis Proposal

object where they can interact with it. All of the sounds used in this prototype
were to help give the player a sense of place. This included a leaky faucet,
opening the refrigerator door, turning lights on and off and moving furniture.
To add a narrative element to the experience there is a special radio clip
that the player can listen to. The radio clip plays an emergency message letting
people know that it is dangerous to go outside due to a crime. I wanted the
player to understand that things are happening outside the apartment even
without their intervention just like the real world. I am looking at new ways of
implementing audio to tell a narrative in the world of Berattande.

CTIN 532 – Prototype 3

The prompt for Prototype 3 for CTIN 532 revolved around the topic of
“world” and “balance”. For this prototype I thought about what a world would
be like if a civilization that believed in the religion of “balance” existed. The
player would enter this world and uncover what this civilization left behind. The
player starts off on the beach and picks up a levitating golden rod that they use
to interact with various elements in the environment. This included controlling a
knob that modifies the audio between the left and right speakers. It was a good
experience in learning to create spaces with this prototype as each area
represented aesthetics of this civilization.

Prior Works Review

Dear Esther

8
 The Chinese Room 2012
Dear Esther is experimental first-person exploration experience by The
Chinese Room. The player explores an unpopulated Hebridean Island listening
to letter fragments written to Esther. There is no direct information on the
narrator’s identity as the player listens to these narrative clips at certain points on
the Island. As the player collects more pieces of the narrative, they uncover the
story and faith of Esther and the people involved. The player can also begin to
think about who is the narrator and his importance to Esther.
The Chinese Room has crafted a beautiful island even though there are
no animals or other humans living on the island. The Island has abandoned
shacks, engraving on cave walks and ship wrecked boats. These objects and
points of interests are some things I would like to incorporate in Berattande. It
also tells a separate story of who was on the island to the story told through
voice clips. The reveal at the end of the experience was interesting but I would
like the player to have a more direct connection with the environment they are
exploring. Dear Esther has created a beautiful island but the player’s interaction
within this world is non-existent as reaching a specific location drops a new
narration. Berattande wants the player to actively explore and interact with the
environment to uncover their own narrative and the narrative embedded in the
environment.

Gone Home

The Fullbright Company 2013

Gone Home is an interactive story adventure game by The Fullbright
Company told through a first-person perspective. The player plays as Kaitlin
Greenbriar who return homes after traveling abroad and begins her journey in
uncovering her sister’s, Samantha, story. Through this journey, the player learns
more about Kaitlin, her family and what Samantha been up to while she was
gone.
Gone Home has a beautifully realized setting of the 1990s with various
objects that embodies this period such as the VCR tapes and music posters in
the room. Even though these objects are filled with information and emotion, I
felt a little disconnected through the experience. There is a missing mechanical
layer that I feel could take this environmental storytelling to the next level.

9
 Lawrence Jung | Thesis Proposal

Berattande wants to take the lessons learned in crafting a believable

environment with layers of interesting interactions where the environment reacts
to the player revealing new information and experiences.

Kentucky Route Zero

Cardboard Computer 2013

Kentucky Route Zero is an episodic point and click adventure game by
Cardboard Computer presented in a dynamic 2D side/top down view. It is
separated into five acts following the story of Conway, a truck driver on a
delivery mission, and his encounters with mysterious people. Kentucky Route
Zero focuses on storytelling and atmosphere since there are no traditional 2D
point and click adventure style puzzles or challenges. The gameplay has the
player exploring an interestingly styled world and choosing different reactions
based off of their conversations with these interesting characters.
One of my favorite things about Kentucky Route Zero is in its artistic vision
and direction of the world. I believe in having a more abstract visual style for
Berattande to give space for the player to insert himself or herself in the world.
Similarly I would like to explore different ways of presenting storytelling through
the absence of text and dialogue. Even thought Kentucky Route Zero is a very
text heavy game, emotions and behaviors of the characters can be seen
through their animation and body language.

10
Contribution to the Field
Growing up, I have always been fascinated how stories are told through
games from classics like Ninja Turtules: Turtles Through Time to more
contemporary games like Mass Effect. They bring their own process and
thoughts in tying interaction with storytelling and have inspired me to discover
my own way. Berattande is an interactive experience that examines what
games have done so far in expressing narratives and taking that to the next
level. I want to explore how stories can be told through the interaction between
the environment and the player.
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World also inspired me in designing
Berattande. These structures created by mankind hold so many stories
throughout their existence, and how some of the structures were created are still
a mystery today. It has been engrained in our history books that have been past
down through generations. However through this process people layer their own
interpretation and narratives during this transcription. Many mythical stories
started out as simple truths but have evolved over the centuries. Some of these
same qualities will exist in Berattande.
In addition to being inspired by the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,
there are some personal experiences I would like to express in Berattande. It is
almost like an artist mark in the world of Interactive Entertainment. I remember
when I was studying abroad in Japan and stayed in a hostel, there were rows
and rows of photographs of various people who stayed there. People from
different ethnicities, languages and cultures lived in that hostel during their own
trips to Japan. They left their own narrative at that place. I hope the player can
leave their narratives in Berattande.
Another area I would like to explore with Berattande is gender diversity in
the interactive media space. Innes McNiel, a contributor to the Gamasutra
community, looking at the gender protagonist breakdown of 288. From the list of
games it broke down to 217 male protagonists to 22 female protagonists with a
male:female ratio of 9.86:1. Ross Orlando from Ithaca noticed in the top 50
games Black and Asian represent 3% and Latino represent 1% as the main
protagonist. He also noted “there were little signs of blatant racial stereotypes
present outside of racism by omission” (Shoemaker). I hope to tackle this
sensitive issue within our industry with this interactive experience starring a young
multi-ethnic teenage girl.
An interview with Campo Santo’s really encompasses what I hope to
achieve with Berattande, "We want the interactivity to come through your
interactions with the world and your decisions that you make” (Farokhmanesh).

11
 Lawrence Jung | Thesis Proposal

Reception and Distribution

D.I.C.E.
Future of Storytelling
GDC
IMGD Thesis Show
Independent Games Festival
IndieCade
PAX East/Prime
SIGGRAPH
Steam
SxSW

12
Project Timeline
Fall Semester
September
• Recruit Team Members – Programmers, Artists (Animator, Texture Artist,
Modeler, Concept Artist), and Writers: Around a team size of 5-6 people.
• Establish Thesis Committee
• Update Thesis Proposal
• Determine Visual Style of the Experience
• Prototype Small and Simple Interactions
• Begin Development of the Game’s Framework and Technological needs
• Determine game flow and emotional arch for the player
October
• First Prototype Test and Evaluation
• Iteration on Visual Style
• “Act 1” narrative is solidify, begin “Act 2”
November
• Polish and Bug Fixing of Playable Area
• Visual Style locked down
• Complete “Act 1” and iterate on “Act 2”
• “Act 1” areas are created and implemented into the game
December
• Demonstrate Current Build at Thesis Winter Show
• Evaluate Experience based of impression at Thesis Winter Show
• Planning for Spring Semester
• Complete “Act 2”, begin Act “3”
• Create and implement “Act 2” area assets

Spring Semester
January
• Refine “Act 3”, begin work on “Resolution”
• Implement “Act 3” Areas
• Polish and Bug Fixes
February
• Refine “Resolution”
• Polish and Bug Fixes
March
• Thesis Defense
April
• Polish and Bug Fixes
• Complete Thesis Post-Mortem Paper
• Complete Thesis Game
May
• Show final Thesis Project at Thesis Show

13
 Lawrence Jung | Thesis Proposal

Estimated Budget
Item Unit Cost Quantity Total
Software Development
Unity Pro 5.0 Stand Alone Commercial License $649 2 $1,298
Unity Team License Addon $249 2 $498
Cartoon FX Effects Pack $20 1 $20
Visual Development
3D/Texture Artist $20/hour 100 hr $2,000
Concept Artist $25/hour 150 hr $3,750
Audio Development
Commission Music $30/minute 30 min $900
Other
Writer $1,500
Design & Production $1,000
Publicity $1,000
Travel and Conferences $2,000
Total $5,500

Bibliography
Farokhmanesh, Megan. Campo Santo's debut, Firewatch. 8 September 2014. 8
September 2014 <http://www.polygon.com/2014/9/8/6111015/firewatch-
campo-santo>.
McNiel, Innes. Innes McNiel's - Blog - Gender Disparity in Games. 14 June 2014. 8
September 2014
<http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/InnesMcNiel/20140614/219244/Gender_Disp
arity_in_Games.php>.
Parsons, Allan. Narrative environments: how do the matter? Summer 2009. 9
September 2014 <http://www.rhizomes.net/issue19/parsons/>.
Shoemaker, Stephen. Video Game Dias: Ithaca College Alumnus Examines
Racial and Gender Representation in the Top 50 Games. 3 June 2014. 8
September 2014 <http://www.ithaca.edu/news/releases/video-game-bias:-
recent-graduate-examines-racial-and-gender-representations-
37633/#.VA4_fEuoOw8>.

14